OneMoSalah

Or drop Mount and play Kovacic as a 10? Even use Pedro and play Willian as a 10? For me, Newcastle were always gonna play on the counter so why wouldnt you put Kante in whos athletisicm and recoverys could be very helpful. Kovacic has shown an increasing attacking input and his ability to manoeuvre in tight spaces could of been helpful closer in more advanced positions closer to Tammy than the deeper position he normally plays in a game like this where teams will set up to frustrate us. Same with Willian and use Pedro on the sides where he runs in behind or always finds himself in and around the box... almost as if Mount is undroppable just now despite doing little. People keep pointing at Kantes inclusion but I would have him ahead of Mount regardless of opposition right now.

Been a poor season from him but surely he can have offered much more than what Mason has for weeks on end where he has been very very poor? I know this is Masons first PL season but he hasnt offered a lot in the last run of games and its frustrating that Frank seems stubborn in his selection along with no natural LB of late. This talk of Mason does the pressing etc is an excuse, almost Oscar-esque for his selection, he is a number 10, scoring and assisting goals as well as creating chances is what he should be doing but he hasnt of late. I said beforehand Franks lack of use of Ross, Giroud (although Tammy has done better than expected and his form hasnt been as inconsistent as Mason or Willians for instance) and Pedro this season has been rather strange.

Another poor result, lucky Spurs dropped points again and United still to play. Like for like changes not so ideal, almost Sarri esque. Playing Azpi at LB too a bit of a puzzle considering we had most of the ball.....

They have Tierney (better than both Kurzawa and Kolasinac imo) and Kolasinac? Another LB... strange

Was impressed with him yesterday. Always positive on the ball, driving forward, always wanted to take it on the half turn so he can get at the opposition. If he can do this every game, as well as start adding goals and assists, he can be an asset for us but its one game and hes been very poor since arriving bar the good run under Sarri.

Abraham could have easily scored 3 or 4 himself. Good win and performance.

I just dont buy it. I mean Andreas had huge success when he broke in to our team in a back 3 under Conte. Frank talks about his ability about picking the right pass/quality of pass yet how many times have we seen Zouma in that middle CB role when we have used a 3? Overhitting poor long range passes? Or Rudiger on the right side doing the exact same? I think if we got 30m or 40m the club would sell Andreas without hesitation and I doubt Frank would stand in their way. He has certainly regressed the last 2 years. No doubt.

I hope not. That would be moronic by all accounts from the manager to board level and above. It is clear Frank doesnt rate Giroud or Batshuayi so why is the club sitting on its hands, doing fuck all? He should be pushing them too saying look we are short in this position, go get X, Y or Z. Also with the talk of selling Giroud this month it makes me even more baffled. Frank and the club didnt have to buy in the summer except Kovacic but I am not expecting that Frank and the club hasnt drawn up a list of players when he came in and since coming in he likes... even more baffled that this Moussa Dembele talk has taken Frank by surprise despite the rumor we made a bid. Its looking very confusing. Almost contradictory.

I know but that is still only the equivalent of what like almost 8 PL games. Out of 21. Considering the amount of times FL has used a back 3 as well and Christensen hasnt been in there either, it makes me wonder. Ake links dont make sense either if he really rates AC.

Frank likes him as a player? He has played under 700 minutes in the PL this season. He has used him sparingly more than Sarri did but I dont think he really rates him considering the constant links to CBs and talk of him leaving.

Wonder if people will think hes past it, like Cavani, bevause hes in his 30s.....

Wait and see we dont agree a fee and end up keeping him for another 6 months. Why are we haggling over a 33 y/o player who FL clearly doesnt want?

It was and it wasnt. As you said we maybe needed a match for sharpness and it was for a good cause but again, the pitch and location was horrific and playing somebody who has always struggled with injuries/fitness continually throughout his whole career on that pitch was always gonna be a risk. Hopefully he finds a way to combat this fitness problems and can feature for longer than the usual 60,65 minutes he would do when he stayed fit because he can have a huge influence on this team imo. He brings a real physicality and presence, like Yaya Toure did for City. Okay Toure was light years ahead of what Ruben is and he is a totally different player perhaps but Toures physical presence was a huge plus for that City team. Everytime we played City and he played I thought thank fuck I am not a professional having to play against that fucker lol, he would just boss games and bully teams. Except for when Matic bullied him when he signed for us.

I would severely disagree regarding Felix. Felix is really struggling at Atletico, probably due to the step up in competitive level but at least he is playing regularly because Simeone has clearly got patience and trusts him (also he is their marquee signing at 130m euros). If he had went to Barca or Madrid or Juve, he would be sitting on the bench not playing so hes hardly made a stupid decision. Its not purely down to Atletico's set up either which people are just assuming. If you watch Atletico games you will see Felix isnt at the same level as last season despite showing glimpses of his obvious talent at times. DS has said about him needing time. Just like de Ligt now at Juventus, where he hasnt featured as frequently in the last month and when he has played, has played poorly compared to the previous season at Ajax. They both just need time to adjust to a higher level of football, again, both are also in different countries and at much bigger clubs too where the demands are much different. Felix will definitely get better once he is fully settled and will definitely be able to get a bigger move again if he can do what he did at Benfica for Atletico. I mean Griezmann eventually got his despite many thinking he would be too expensive for Barca to buy from Atletico or that he had been there too long.

Dont think Bayern would be the greatest move for him either. He would be more able to compete with Gnabry, Coman, Muller than Callum when he was linked but it would still be interesting to see if his inconsistent end product would hinder him there like I feel it would here.

Good move for him I think. He needs to play more to get accustomed to playing first team football. The championship, if he can get in the team, will give him a good experience particularly physically as they play a lot of games and there are a lot of direct and physical teams.

You must be dreamimg haha. AC Milan may be interested in Andreas but they arent daft, they will have been tracking him and seen how he has fared this last year. They want him on loan with an obligation to buy so they obviously want to see if he can make an impact before committing too. No chance they would accept such a fee and Andreas for their captain who is a very good player. Would be like offering 40m and Caballero for Donnarumma...

Fell out with their manager.

World class being thrown around again regarding our youngsters. I know we havent ever had 3, 4 or 5 youngsters breaking through at once in god knows how long, which is exciting but when will we not get ahead of ourselves? The same with the right side set for years article based off a FA cup game vs a second string Notts Forrest team. Even Andreas got the whole best young CB in the world after 3 months with Conte and look at him now. When they are world class then say they are world class. Let them develop. When they get there then yeah fair enough. It is great news hes signing a new deal, hes impressed me in stages this season so hopefully he can continue to play and kick on as he still has a lot of work to do to fulfill his potential. As do the rest of the youngsters.

And the people who thought that, there are a few words for them, ungrateful being one of them and stupid being another.

Gedson Fernandes, Wilfried Zaha and Issa Diop. Not completely sold on any of them but out of the three, although Diop has huge potential. Fernandes has fallen off the radar a bit after a promising start at Benfica when he broke into the team, he reminds me of Renato Sanches in terms of how his career has gone. He started well at Benfica and now has fallen out of favour due to a bust up of sorts with their manager. Zaha is a good player but not sure if he is top 4 material, his end product still leaves little to be desired although in 1 on 1s he is good at taking players out of the game. Diop, huge potential but again a young player, I think if Christensen is to be going to AC Milan or somewhere else as reported, then having a more established player replace him would be more sufficient unless Zouma is going to be a long term part of Franks plans here.

They outdid us tactically at Old Trafford because they sat off us, we didnt take chances and we were incredibly vulnerable on transitions (arguably still are), like against most top teams this season. Not so sure about the second game but probably similar, we didnt take chances and then they hit us on counters.

That is madness because you see Inter being linked with Vidal, Eriksen and Giroud who are a much higher quality of player than Young. Surprised Moses hasnt been talked about either then. Maybe Conte wants to recreate the Man United team with Sanchez, Young and Lukaku.

See if its Issa Diop from West Ham.... a young CB isnt what we need, a more establishes CB is.

Pretty sure they loaned him to give them numbers to cover John McGinn who picked up a 3 month injury a few weeks ago. If he does well maybe theyll keep him (hopefully)...